Agenda item

Report by Portfolio Holder for Climate, Access and Engagement with an update of the survey and how the aspirations of the Councils Corporate Strategy are being delivered.

Cabinet NOTED the contents of the report and provided observations and actions to the relevant officers accordingly.

The Senior Corporate Policy Officer, Martin Guest, introduced the report which was an update of the 2022 Residents Survey. The survey supports the delivery of the aspirations set out in the Council’s Corporate Strategy 2020 -2024. It included a breakdown of analysis against each question and is supported by the full findings which are appended to the report.

The Senior Corporate Policy Officer stated said the report gave a positive message, there had been an increase in the number of responses since the last survey in 2019 and satisfaction had increased in several areas in the services the Council provides. There was increased satisfaction in the level of engagement the Council has with residents and an increase in the use of the website and social media channels, although face to face contact is still essential.

The two main areas where there was dissatisfaction was enforcement action against littering and dog fouling, which had shown an increase since 2019, although work is in place to redress this issue. The other area was the use of drugs and dealing of drugs. 

Portfolio Holder for Climate, Access and Engagement Councillor Alison Freer stated she was pleased the Council have been able to deliver the survey that was committed to.  She added that the results are good, and that targets set had been exceeded in many areas especially as they had been carried out in turbulent times.

She stated that it was good to see there was an increase in the number of people who trust the Council and feel safe in their local area.  She said that work had been in place over the last year to improve is issues with littering, dog fouling and antisocial behaviour.

Councillor Freer added that it is good to see that the Council are increasing the ways that people are contacted, taking into account that different age demographics prefer different ways of communicating.

Councillor Freer said she is proud of the results from the survey and that benchmarking against other councils is favourable. She said the Council will need to continue the good work as we are heading into challenging times. It was noted that the next survey would be due in 2024.

The Leader gave his congratulations to the team for compiling such a good report, he thought it had so much detail with some strong points and he was very pleased with the results. He said we are heading in right direction and need to continue this work. He commented that the local press should see it to give some positive reporting.

Councillor Bindloss commented that it was an excellent report, very meaningful. He added that the Council will be able to take information from it to see what needs to be done going forward. He added that he particularly liked how it had been split into wards, so readers can see exactly what areas each ward needs to concentrate on.

Cabinet:

NOTED the contents of the report and provided observations and actions to the relevant officers accordingly.

Reason for Recommendations:

Having established a new Corporate Strategy in September 2020, it is important the Council regularly receives and considers feedback from residents to evaluate progress against its priorities. The results of the Residents Survey will be used to focus improvements on key priority services and projects and seek to help inform the Cabinet, Members and Officers regarding the formation of policy and oversight of delivery. This information will also be used to inform the development of the next Corporate Strategy in 2023/2024.